LA Radio: $10 Million Demand Alleges Radio Payola

Stephanie Himondis

A former KLAX La Reza 97.9 FM host known as Chiquibaby sued the Spanish Broadcasting System for $10M on Monday, claiming it fired her and her husband for objecting to its illegal payola scheme: demanding $5,000 from musicians to play one song one time, according to Courthouse News.

Stephanie Himondis pka Chiquibaby says her husband, co-plaintiff Gerardo Lopez, earned more than $120,000 base pay for managing two SBS stations, and she got more than twice that, through base pay and bonuses.

Defendant SBS is "the largest Hispanic-controlled radio broadcasting company in the United States," owning and/or operating at least 20 FM stations, in L.A., New York, Miami, Chicago and elsewhere, according to the Oct. 17 complaint in Superior Court.

Last September, the couple claimed that SBS "demanded that Mr. Lopez engage in an illegal payola scheme" as part of his job. "SBS demanded five thousand dollars ($5,000) in payment from musicians in exchange for one play of one song on the air per station," the complaint states.

"SBS flat-out refused to play music on its stations if musicians refused to pay SBS's illegal 'fee' for the same. SBS in turn gave Mr. Lopez a monthly sales quota of five (5) music spots, i.e., SBS required Mr. Lopez to illegally sell and collect from musicians at least five such 'fees' each month, per station, per month, which would yield at least $50,000 per month of $600,000 per year in illegal revenue to SBS."

Himonidis' radio career began in Guadalajara, Mexico. She moved to Fresno and worked her way up into the Los Angeles market. In 2014 was DJ and host of one of SBS' most successful offerings, The Chiquibaby Show, during the 5 to 10 a.m. drive-time slot, with good ratings in the influential markets of Northern and Southern California

Her husband was a successful radio executive who moved to SBS in 2014 after the company's CEO Raul Alarcon recruited him away from his Univision, according to the complaint. Lopez, who was not yet married but in a relationship with Himonidis, persuaded her to follow him to SBS.

They say their work produced a spike in ratings not only during The Chiquibaby Show but across the broadcast system's various platforms. Then, Lopez says, he found that payola was part of his job.

Lopez was fired after he refused to participate in the payola.

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